Not only did she want a dog, but she wanted to rescue one, so she went on Petfinder and located My Young and Old Fur Babies Rescue, an organization in Woodsfield, OH. Among its listings was one for a Shih Tzu. She called the rescue and made arrangement to meet the dog.

“I will never forget that day,” she says. “I rang the doorbell and [the rescue person] came out with him and he was cuter in person. She put him down and he ran to me and let me pick him up and give him a big hug.”

That did it. Rachel was ready to finalize the adoption. But then she had another thought. Why not adopt two dogs? When she told the rescuer, the woman left for a few minutes and came back with four little pups in her hands. “She put them all down, and it was so fun watching then all run around playing,” Rachel says.

With four from which to choose, the decision seemed almost impossible. “But there was this one white furry one who kept on coming to see me in between playing,” Rachel says, “and each time he did, he would stay longer until he didn’t care about playing at all. He just sat in front of me, letting me love him.”

The rescue person had a big grin on her face and said, “I guess you don’t have to pick because he picked you.” And it was true. The pup had taken the decision into his own paws.

“I couldn’t be happier,” the pet “mom” says. And her heart surely grew two sizes that day.